A number of questions underly the proposed research. What is the developmental history of caring? How does a cared-for infant become a care-giving and caring adult? What kinds of characteristics distinguish adults who care for others from those who do not? The proposed study represents one step in the elaboration of a life span developmental perspective on caring. The subjects will be 300 young people differing in role status (single, married without children, married with at least one child). In a semi-longitudinal study, subjects will be interviewed once a year for three years to determine the nature of their relationships with their parents, as well as their level of functioning in stage of moral development, role taking stage and ego identity status. The contribution of role status and developmental variables to reciprocity and caring in the intergenerational, intrafamilial relationships of these subjects will be examined.